1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a sanitary cleaning device which includes a toilet seat and a toilet cover and is attached to a toilet bowl, thereby injecting warm water in the toilet bowl. In particular, the present invention relates to a cleaning main body mounted on the toilet bowl and also to a rotation deceleration device used for connecting the cleaning main body and the toilet seat or the toilet cover.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
A sanitary cleaning device mounted on a toilet bowl includes a cleaning main body for injecting warm water in the toilet bowl, a toilet seat, and a toilet cover. The cleaning main body is mounted on the toilet bowl and is connected to the toilet seat and the toilet cover each through a rotation deceleration device. In the rotation deceleration device, a deceleration mechanism is controlled not to function when the toilet seat or the toilet cover is being opened and is controlled to function when the toilet seat or the toilet cover is being closed.
A conventional rotation deceleration device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 5.
As is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional rotation deceleration device 1 includes a cylinder 4 containing a hydraulic chamber 3 which has a substantially semicircular cross section and is filled with a control oil, and a rotation shaft 2 inserted through the cylinder 4. An end portion of the rotation shaft 2 is extended from the cylinder 4. The rotation shaft 2 has a control wall 8 radially projected therefrom so as to divide the hydraulic chamber 3 into a pressurizing chamber 5 and a pressure reducing chamber 6 in a rotation direction thereof. The pressurizing chamber 5 and the pressure reducing chamber 6 are connected to each other through a passage 7 made between an inner surface of the cylinder 4 and the control wall 8. A control valve 10 is provided in the pressurizing chamber 5 so as to be opposed to a side surface of the control wall 8. The control valve 10 is rotated integrally with the rotation shaft 2 in the cylinder 4 by the rotation of the rotation shaft 2 toward the pressurizing chamber 5. An inner portion, of the control valve 10, extended along an axial direction of the rotation shaft 2 functions as a rotation center 9 thereof, the end being disposed in the vicinity of a peripheral portion of the rotation shaft 2. An outer portion of the control valve 10 is slid on the inner surface of the cylinder 4. A control outlet 11 is made in the vicinity of the rotation center 9 of the control valve 10, through which the control oil flows from the pressurizing chamber 5 to the pressure reducing chamber 6. As is shown in FIG. 3, a flange portion 2a of the rotation shaft 2 is engaged in an end portion of the cylinder 4 from which the rotation shaft 2 is extended, and a stopping rod 12 is projected from the flange portion 2a of the rotation shaft 2 toward the pressurizing chamber 5 for stopping the rotation of the control valve 10. O-rings 13 (FIG. 1) for preventing the control oil from flowing out of the hydraulic chamber 3 are provided in the flange portion 2a of the rotation shaft 2. The rotation shaft 2, the cylinder 4, and the control valve 10 are formed of an identical material in order to restrict wearing of the sliding surfaces of the control valve 10 and the cylinder 4 and the contact portions of the control valve 10 and the rotation shaft 2.
The rotation deceleration device 1 having the above construction is operated in the following manner.
When the rotation shaft 2 is rotated in the direction of an arrow a of FIG. 4, the control valve 10 is rotated in the state of being pressed on the control wall 8. Accordingly, the control oil in the pressurizing chamber 5 is compressed to raise the inner pressure of the chamber 5, thereby decelerating the rotation of the rotation shaft 2.
When the rotation shaft 2 is rotated in the direction of an arrow b of FIG. 5, a passage way 14 is made between the control valve 10 and the control wall 8. Accordingly, the pressurizing chamber 5 and the pressure reducing chamber 6 are connected to each other through the control outlet 11, the passage way 14, and the passage 7. Since the control oil flows as is shown by the chain line of FIG. 5, the decelerating effect on the rotation of the rotation shaft 2 is almost completely lost except for the viscosity resistance the control oil.
The rotation deceleration device 1 has the following problem. When the ambient temperature is high as in summer, the control oil easily flows due to a low viscosity thereof. Further, since the control wall 8, the cylinder 4, and the control valve 10 are formed of an identical material, these members have a substantially identical deformation ratio in accordance with the ambient temperature. For these reasons, the sizes of a gap between the control valve 10 and the cylinder 4 and a gap between the control valve 10 and the control wall 8 are not changed. Therefore, the control oil more easily flows from the pressurizing chamber 5 to the pressure reducing chamber 6, thereby lowering the inner pressure of the pressurizing chamber 5 to reduce the decelerating effect.
A conventional sanitary cleaning device 19 including the rotation deceleration device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 through 8.
As is shown in FIG. 6, the conventional sanitary cleaning device 19 mounted on a toilet bowl 15 includes a cleaning main body ! 6, two rotation deceleration devices 1 mounted on the cleaning main body 16 each through a fixing member 21, a toilet seat 17 and a toilet cover 18. The toilet seat 17 and the toilet cover 18 are rotatably connected to the cleaning main body 16 each through the rotation shaft 2. As is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the fixing member 21 is formed of a metal plate folded to have a substantially U-shaped cross section and to have two end portions 20 opposed to each other. The cylinder 4 of the rotation deceleration device 1 is inserted into the fixing member 21, and the end portions 20 are firmly fixed to a mounting section 22 projected from the cleaning main body 16 through pins 23, thereby directly fixing the rotation deceleration device 1 to the cleaning main body 16.
The toilet seat 17 and the toilet cover 18 are opened when being manually operated. At this point, the toilet seat 17 and the toilet cover 18 are smoothly rotated while the rotation thereof is not decelerated by the rotation deceleration device 1. When being lightly pulled from a vertical position to a slightly slanting position, the toilet seat 17 and the toilet cover 18 are closed while rapid rotation thereof is restricted by the weight thereof and the decelerating effect of the rotation deceleration device 1.
In the above construction, the rotation deceleration device 1 is supported by the fixing member 21 which is cantilevered by the mounting section 22 projected upward from the cleaning main body 16. Accordingly, a stress generated by a total rotation moment obtained when the toilet seat 17 or the toilet cover 18 is opened or closed is applied to the mounting section 22 of the cleaning main body 16 through the fixing member 21. In other words, the stress is concentrated on the mounting section 22, thereby significantly damaging the mounting section 22.